Fiat Ducato 3 litre engine . What do people think of it

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Russ M

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C Class Dethleffs
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Hi.
looking to change our motorhome and one we’ve found , which we really like , has a 3 litre Fiat engine with 6 speed auto box.
I think theses are now discontinued .
Its a 2016 motorhome amd the engine is Euro 5 rated and has done just 14,000 miles .

Wondering if there are any issues with this engine we need to be aware of ? And why it’s been discontinued ?
I assume it’s something to do with the new Euro 6 emissions , and if that’s the case are we likely to run into problems with the emission level in some cities , such as in France where Crit air certicates are needed .
Aalso , how does it drive and are there any maintenance issues such as cam belt or chain ?

So , perhaps some of you with experience of this engine , good and bad , could let us know your thoughts on it please .

many thanks in advance .
 
The 3 liter engine is loads of torque and power. I did not like the auto box.
 
I have had both a 2010 manual and currently a 2014 Auto and have been delighted with both so far in 7 years covering about 20k miles, both bought used before me. The 2010 had a dodgy fuel filter but apart from that which has since been re-designed for the better I have not had any problems but neither vehicle had a big mileage before I bought them.
 
Russ M said:
Hi.
looking to change our motorhome and one we’ve found , which we really like , has a 3 litre Fiat engine with 6 speed auto box.
I think theses are now discontinued .
Its a 2016 motorhome amd the engine is Euro 5 rated and has done just 14,000 miles .

Wondering if there are any issues with this engine we need to be aware of ? And why it’s been discontinued ?
I assume it’s something to do with the new Euro 6 emissions , and if that’s the case are we likely to run into problems with the emission level in some cities , such as in France where Crit air certicates are needed .
Aalso , how does it drive and are there any maintenance issues such as cam belt or chain ?

So , perhaps some of you with experience of this engine , good and bad , could let us know your thoughts on it please .

many thanks in advance .
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Should be Euro 6 at that age. Check, as this is the main advantage of buying younger (i.e. will cope with the ever increasing LEZ roll out for a lot longer).

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Ours was a manual so not sure about the auto gearbox but our Fiat 3 litre was a powerful monster although only 160 bhp. But loads of grunt lower down. If 2016 I agree it should be a Euro 6 so check that out. My head really struggled with the thought of buying a 2.3 180 bhp Fiat with a Comformatic box but just shows how much engineering has come on it has more than enough torque and has not been a compromise (for me).
 
Excellent engine, pulls like a train.
 
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A great engine. very well made with a camchain. I had one for 9 years 75000 miles pulls like a train and very reliable. The only known issue is the fuel filter casings can crack when you change the filter, answer is change the whole thing they re not expensive. The 2.3s are not as good in particular the earlier versions ( search 'juddergate')

I believe the 3 litre engine was dropped from the Fiat range partly for political reasons and partly for emmisions. It was an Iveco engine and Iveco wanted to upspec it a bit to get over 200hp in the daily but then didnt want let Fiat have the same engine. The later version was E5 and I think it needed a bit more development to get to 6 because even quite recently it was still 5b in the daily.
 
As others have said, excellent engine, you can do long distances no problem. No issues with the six speed auto. Ours has done about 22,000 miles, and it’s just starting to loosen up👍
 
cmcardle75 said:
Should be Euro 6 at that age. Check, as this is the main advantage of buying younger (i.e. will cope with the ever increasing LEZ roll out for a lot longer).
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a lot of motorhomes lag behind as a 16 motorhome is probably built on a made in 15 chassis

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mitzimad said:
a lot of motorhomes lag behind as a 16 motorhome is probably built on a made in 15 chassis
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For some reason I was thinking of 2014 as the magic year. In also seems that light commericals came in later, so it might not have been sitting around at all...
 
Not a big fan of the fiat auto, love the merc.

However, how much is driving and how much is camping?
 
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We have done over 50,000 miles in five years with our 3 litre auto and love it. Pulls like a train and is a great match for the auto box!
 
Some great and helpful replies so far.
thankyou
Seems like the engine is good and powerful so no worries there.
my main niggle remains the fact that it euro 5 and May get banned from a lot of cities fairly soon.
any thoughts on this please

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Russ M said:
Some great and helpful replies so far.
thankyou
Seems like the engine is good and powerful so no worries there.
my main niggle remains the fact that it euro 5 and May get banned from a lot of cities fairly soon.
any thoughts on this please
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You cannot get into a number of cities anyhow so don’t worry about it just enjoy it.
 
I wonder if there is a way to “upgrade” the euro 5 to a Euro 6 ?
is it a case of fitting an ad blue system ?
would that be possible or cost prohibitive.
 
Over 100,000 miles on mine still purrs like a kitten. Change the oil & filter every year or 8,000 miles.
 
Russ M said:
I wonder if there is a way to “upgrade” the euro 5 to a Euro 6 ?
is it a case of fitting an ad blue system ?
would that be possible or cost prohibitive.
Click to expand...
Cost prohibitive. I am sure manufacturers would've done that without spending millions to get engines to euro 6
 
52,000 miles on mine, with comformatic gearbox, Just run in. Change oil and filter every year,

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In 2008 I bought an iveco daily chassis cab with a dropside body for work with the 3.0 engine

I had it until 2014 and 350,000 miles , most of that pulling a fully loaded 3.5t trailer at 7t train weight , nothing ever went wrong with it, the cam chain got a bit rattly from 300k on but once it was running for a few seconds and the tensioners filled with oil it was fine

It would've had 35 oil changes in that time though , I'm a big believer in fresh oil , none of this 25,000 mile oil changes

What I really liked about it was the power, when the truck was empty not towing the trailer it was really quick off the line

A few times a car would stop in the left turn only lane thinking they'd out accelerate me when the lights changed

Yeah , that's not happening :D
 
My 2011 3.0 is brilliant - it's Euro IV with no dpf so none of the modern day eml problems. No problem getting a green umweldplakette in Germany allowing us into all cities
 
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Got one and the comformatic box too....love it !
Kev
 
Russ M said:
Some great and helpful replies so far.
thankyou
Seems like the engine is good and powerful so no worries there.
my main niggle remains the fact that it euro 5 and May get banned from a lot of cities fairly soon.
any thoughts on this please
Click to expand...

Cities are difficult for a motorhome whatever the engine. Park outside the city and public transport in. It’s what we do now anyway.
 
hi im thinkng of buying a 2009 box van fiat ducato 3 litre engine just wondering if its a cam belt or chain that is in them

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Drive is transmitted by two drive chains, a double 3/8" chain transmits drive from the crankshaft to the oil pump/vacuum pump & high pressure pump shafts.
A single chain transmits drive from the high pressure pump shaft to the camshafts.
 
Good to read all the great reports on the 3L motor, as we are about to buy a 6 wheel Hymer 2016 model with the 3L motor & c-matic box. Done 22k miles, so just about run in I think.
 
Try checking the vehicle registration online with the clean air registration sites - you might get a pleasant surprise.
I think you’ll find that despite the engine actually being a Euro5 the vehicle will be classed as Euro6 by the authorities due to its registration date.
 

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